1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope system provided with an endoscope which can be combined with a therapeutic instrument, and in particular, to the endoscope system provided with a manipulating unit commanding operations needed by at least the medical instrument.
2. Related Art
In recent years, endoscopes have been used widely in the medical therapeutic filed. A typical endoscope is provided with a thin and elongated insertion tube equipped with a bendable section positioned at the end thereof and an operating unit with such members as knobs and switches being operated. Such operating members are used by operators to issue commands for various operations to obtain endoscopic operations.
Examples of endoscopic treatments in the medical field include a treatment for lesions in the digestive system and pancreatic duct system. As currently known therapy for the pancreatic duct system conducted with the use of an endoscope, there are diagnostic treatments contrast-imaging the bile duct and pancreatic duct by using the endoscope and therapeutic treatments for removing calculus in the bile duct using a balloon and a gripping therapeutic instrument.
In these treatments, the insertion tube of an endoscope is inserted in a body cavity of an object being treated, so that an imaging optical system embedded in the distal section of the insertion tube provides images of organs in the body cavity and/or a balloon and a gripping therapeutic instrument delivered through a therapeutic-instrument channel provide necessary medical treatments.
In cases where the therapeutic instrument is inserted into the therapeutic-instrument channel of a conventional endoscope, it is necessary for an operator, with holding the sheath of the instrument by hand, to insert the therapeutic instrument into the channel by a hand-feed manner. However, this inserting work takes much labor, because therapeutic instruments have a length of as long as 2 meters. In addition, much attention should be paid for the insertion. Accordingly, as a whole, work for the insertion and the various operations of therapeutic instruments have been very hard.
Some conventional techniques are provided to try to solve this problem. One conventional technique is proposed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 57-190541, in which there is provided an instrument inserting/pulling-back apparatus combined with an endoscope. The endoscope is provided with a therapeutic-instrument channel through which a therapeutic member is mechanically inserted and pulled back into and from a body cavity of a patient being examined by the instrument inserting/pulling-back apparatus. In this system, when the distal end of the therapeutic instrument reaches a tube position near the distal end of the insertion tube, the mechanical insertion operation is released and then the operation is switched to manual work for subtle inserting operations.
Additionally, another Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-207 proposes another system, in which, besides the foregoing inserting/pulling-back function to therapeutic instruments, an endoscope system is provided with an instrument inserting/pulling-back apparatus for driving a therapeutic member attached to the distal end of a therapeutic instrument. The various functions of this inserting/pulling-back apparatus are instructed by foot switches.
By the way, operators such as doctors should grip the insertion tube part of which including its distal section is inserted in a body cavity of a patient so that the distal section is surely located to track a lesion in the body cavity. In other words, operators should observe a lesion by images obtained by imaging means arranged at the distal end of the insertion tube and operate the therapeutic member within a filed of view of imaging tracked by the distal section. Hence the therapeutic member, which appears from the distal end of the insertion tube, has to always be kept within the file of view for treatments of the lesion. For this reason, an operator is required to hold the insertion tube so as not to move it.
In particular, in the apparatus disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 57-190541, when a therapeutic instrument is inserted into a body cavity, which requires sensitive manual motions, an operator is obliged to hold the operating base portion of an endoscope in one hand and to insert the therapeutic instrument with the other hand. In addition, the operator should release the other hand from the endoscope when it is required to handle a therapeutic to handle a therapeutic member of the therapeutic instrument.
Thus the operator has frequently been confronted with a difficulty in that the tip of the insertion tube is not fixed easily and not always held next to a lesion, due to the affection of the peristaltic motion of a body cavity on the flexible insertion tube. It has also been frequent that the operator loses the lesion in endoscopic images, giving rise to a difficulty in a smooth treatment on the therapeutic instruments. In other words, in such a case, the operator should repeat many times an approach of the tip of the insertion tube to a lesion, resulting in troublesome work.
Meanwhile in the system disclosed by Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-207, an operator is allowed to handle the foot switches(s) to command the insertion of a therapeutic instrument and the necessary motions of a therapeutic member of the instrument, with operator's both hands holding and gripping the endoscope. However, the operator is engaged in treating and inspecting a lesion with looking at endoscopic images coming from the endoscope, so that the operator is required to handle a foot switch with the operator's foot after visually checking the position of the foot. In cases where there are arranged a plurality of foot switches, an operator should select a desired foot switch or handle plural foot switches at the same time. This kind of handling work becomes difficult for operators and in particular, the foot-operation makes it difficult to perform sensitive work to insert the therapeutic instrument and move the instrument member.
Further, the therapy on the endoscope frequently involves other medical tools such as therapeutic instruments operative on high-frequency power. In some cases, such kinds of therapeutic instruments adopt foot switches, which makes the situation even worse by handing the plurality of foot switches including foot switches for inserting/pulling the insertion tube of the endoscope and switches for various medical instruments and therapeutic instruments.